World Briefing | Asia: Taiwan: Former Taipei Mayor Nominated

By KEITH BRADSHER

Published: May 3, 2007

The Central Standing Committee of the opposition Nationalist Party nominated Ma Ying-jeou, the former mayor of Taipei, to be the party's candidate in presidential elections to be held early next year. A full party congress on June 24 is expected to confirm the nomination. Mr. Ma, a Harvard-educated lawyer, has long been seen as the most likely Taiwanese official to bring about a partial reconciliation with the mainland. But he stepped down as party chairman in February after he was indicted for using $339,000 from a mayoral expense account for personal needs; prosecutors have begun a crackdown on the widespread practice among Taiwanese officials of treating expense budgets as part of their personal compensation. KEITH BRADSHER